Suggestions for European Trip

saycoda a écrit :

Hi,

My daughter will be doing her last semester in La Rochelle, France. Her last
class is May 19th, 2006. My wife, son, and I want to spend the following
week with her visiting France and Italy. I can find decent flights using
"Sidestep.com" or "Kayak.com", and I've even read about "RyanAir" in this
group. What concerns me though are the hotels, and getting around, car or
rail? Any help to make this a first time European vacation would be
appreciated.

Two weeks France/Italy for a first trip to Europe late May, an
almost "local" guide available in La Rochelle, I would definitely
recommend staying a few days in La Rochelle and that region
in addition to a few days in Paris.

For other destinations and recommendations on transportations,
all depends on your preferences. As other posters already stated,
driving in most larger cities in Europe is a mess, parking worse
and expensive. But for both France and Italy, visiting smaller
places is much easier by car rather than public transportation.
Train in France is great thanks to TGV, and low-price airlines have
become an interesting travel alternative in Europe over the last
few years.

I would start with a few days in Paris, fly or use TGV for either
SW or S-France, rent a car for driving around a few days, get
low-price tickets for a flight to either Florence (sure overcrowded,
but small, nice - and definitely not a town for using a car) or Rome
(more options, an other city to avoid traveling by car) and fly back.

If you really like driving: regions I would easily return in France
is most of SW, Arles-Marseille-Valence area, Alsace for the small
villages. In Italy most of Tuscany, the coast-line from La Spezia
to Naples (but driving south of Rome is kind of special ....).
For itineraries including distances, gas and road toll check
www.viamichelin.com (for gas count at least one euro per liter,
mileage for most smaller to intermediate cars here is somewhere
between 6 and 10 liter/100km)

Best probably is to compile a list of sites you would like to see,
define priorities, put them on a map, cut down to what you
really want to see and then compare different means of
transporations for different feasible tours.

On 18 Nov 2005 07:43:11 -0800, wrote:

Two weeks France/Italy for a first trip to Europe late May, an
almost "local" guide available in La Rochelle, I would definitely
recommend staying a few days in La Rochelle and that region
in addition to a few days in Paris.

Staying around La Rochelle is a good idea, but maybe the daughter who
is studying in La Rochelle will really want to get out of town by
then. However, at least a few days would be very nice for the rest of
the family, because they will get to see things that most tourists
never see in a foreign country, with the help of their daughter.

[snip]

I would start with a few days in Paris, fly or use TGV for either
SW or S-France, rent a car for driving around a few days, get
low-price tickets for a flight to either Florence (sure overcrowded,
but small, nice - and definitely not a town for using a car) or Rome
(more options, an other city to avoid traveling by car) and fly back.

I would suggest finding another location in France after Paris,
instead of trying to see Italy in the same short period of time.
However, if the family really has a burning desire to see Italy, I
would suggest Rome over Florence. If I had to pick one city to see on
a short visit to Italy, it would be Rome without a doubt. Florence
will not give you much of an idea of Italy, because the tourists
already outnumber the inhabitants by about 2 to 1 in May.

It would help a lot to know what sorts of things interest this family.
If they really are interested in Renaissance art and architecture,
maybe Florence is a good idea after all. However, maybe they want to
tour around the countryside visiting wineries, or maybe they're
interested in hiking. Their time is very limited and it's hard to
advise how best to spend it.

I suggest the original poster get back to us with some more clues as
to what the various members of the party enjoy and what means of
transportation they would be willing to take.


--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

Well, all of the posts here have been great. Maybe this is a stretch, but I
would like to spend some time in the area of La Rochelle having our daughter
take us around. But what I would really like to do, being on that side of
the atlantic, is to get to the Campania region of Italy, where my family is
from. I was there once as a child and I would like to show my wife and
children some of our heritage. Both of my children are college age and with
them beginning careers soon, I don't see us getting an oppurtunity to do it
all together again.

Thanks again.

I suggest the original poster get back to us with some more clues as
to what the various members of the party enjoy and what means of
transportation they would be willing to take.


--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot
it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

saycoda a écrit :

Well, all of the posts here have been great. Maybe this is a stretch, butI
would like to spend some time in the area of La Rochelle having our daughter
take us around. But what I would really like to do, being on that side of
the atlantic, is to get to the Campania region of Italy, where my family is
from. I was there once as a child and I would like to show my wife and
children some of our heritage. Both of my children are college age and with
them beginning careers soon, I don't see us getting an oppurtunity to do it
all together again.

So back to basics: fly or use TGV for La Rochelle or a city not
to far away, rent a car, drive around, find a reasonably priced
ticket on one of the low-cost airlines (or if you fly in/out of Paris
you might check for a night-train) for Rome or somewhere close.
Rent a car once in Italy (if in a larger city: avoid driving during
rush-hours) - and be aware that driving in Italy is special (I like
it),
driving south of Rome is very, very special :-)

Driving from La Rochelle to Campania is sure feasible, but kind
of longish and imho worth only if you have time for stops and/or
side-tours.

End of May is a good time for visiting the area, best would be
having some local guide (relatives ?) showing you around.
Campania definitely is worth a trip!

wrote:
So back to basics: fly or use TGV for La Rochelle or a city not
to far away, rent a car, drive around, find a reasonably priced
ticket on one of the low-cost airlines (or if you fly in/out of Paris
you might check for a night-train)

Except don't fly out of Paris--fly home from Italy and save yourself time
and (probably) money.

Le Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:19:20 -0500, saycoda a écrit*:

Well, all of the posts here have been great. Maybe this is a stretch, but I
would like to spend some time in the area of La Rochelle having our daughter
take us around. But what I would really like to do, being on that side of
the atlantic, is to get to the Campania region of Italy, where my family is
from. I was there once as a child and I would like to show my wife and
children some of our heritage. Both of my children are college age and with
them beginning careers soon, I don't see us getting an oppurtunity to do it
all together again.

Thanks again.

Unless you have some other special interest, at town, a place, a region,
the better is to spend some days near La Rochelle, possibly Paris, and
what remains in Campania. You could easily spend the 2 weeks there without
being bored.

The distance between the 2 spots is quite large, a 3 or 4 days drive.
Driving on Autoroutes and autostrade is not difficult, but long and
generally boring. In France, at least, it has really improved those
last years, except in towns. From La Rochelle to Italy, the best route
should through Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille, Nice, Genova, Roma. Trafic
conditions in towns can be difficult everywhere, except for locals, better
avoid town centers when you can.

Using public transports, you must first reach Paris (TGV 3 hours, Paris
Montparnasse station), reach CDG Airport. Alitalia and Lufthansa have
indirect flights from Paris to Napoli, through Rome or Frankfurt.

Traveling in a group of 4, the car should result a cheaper solution.

Train time tables :
http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/...pageUK&WB= HP
Flights and Hotels on their home page (Vols) http://www.voyages-sncf.com/
You can buy online 2 months before you travel.

Flights
http://www.govoyages.com/
http://freepromo.promovacances.com/vols.htm
http://www.vivacances.fr/
http://agence.voyages-sncf.com/pub/a...1132387091378&

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:19:20 -0500, "saycoda" wrote:

Well, all of the posts here have been great. Maybe this is a stretch, but I
would like to spend some time in the area of La Rochelle having our daughter
take us around. But what I would really like to do, being on that side of
the atlantic, is to get to the Campania region of Italy, where my family is
from. I was there once as a child and I would like to show my wife and
children some of our heritage. Both of my children are college age and with
them beginning careers soon, I don't see us getting an oppurtunity to do it
all together again.


This is perfectly reasonable but it would be better to stick to just
those two areas, and perhaps fly from one to the other. La Rochelle
is a very attractive place, with both a pleasant old town and a beach,
and there's quite a bit to do in the immediate area. La Venise Vert
('green Venice') a little way inland is worth a visit; as its name
suggests it's an area criss-crossed with canals. If you're there in
summer you might want to explore L'Ile de Ré, just off-shore but
connected to the mainland by a bridge, which is primarily taken up
with a string of beaches. Bordeaux, which is a very interesting and
historic city and of course a centre for wine-making, is within
comfortable reach.

Martin

The Reid wrote:
I cant say driving in Italy is great

I can. And did at the site at Right in the sig:
http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/ItalDRIVE.html
__________________________________________________ _________________
A San Franciscan in (where else?) San Francisco.
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ - http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 --- IClast at SFbay Net

saycoda wrote:

Hi,

My daughter will be doing her last semester in La Rochelle, France.
Her last class is May 19th, 2006.

Why not listen to your doughter and ask her for advice?
She's been here for a semester, you know ;-).
Thanks in advance.

--
Nobody is perfect
not even in failing
Suzuki Bandit 1200S "Das Eisen"

Following up to

I cant say driving in Italy is great

I can.

Too much traffic for me and you never seem to get away from
houses. Haven't done south of Naples yet or La Marche and another
place on east side starting in A which looks quiet hilly.
--
Mike Reid
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap